Car Design Review 9: Anthony Lo, Ford

We achieved some major milestones this year at Ford and Lincoln, including launching the F-150 Lightning, E-Transit Van and two major Lincoln concepts, plus reorganising where design fits within the company. Recently, I became a part of Ford’s Model e organisation, reporting to [ex-Apple and Tesla] Doug Field, now our chief officer of EVs and digital systems.

This is part of a greater restructuring that essentially split the company into two parts, with our group focusing on developing the company’s future EVs, connectivity, and related technology. It’s a big commitment from Ford. Look at our recent announcements on investments in battery plants and where we’re building our future products.

Now is a great moment to rethink what we should be building. Typically when designing a new vehicle, there’s a very clear reference from the previous generation and what’s on the market that you can benchmark and try to be outstanding in some way while also managing the cost and feasibility through the development process. Do we simply replace an existing vehicle with a new one which is bigger and better with nicer materials? Do we want to have a car that looks similar in proportions to the previous generation? We are thinking about our customers’ future needs and using that as the first point of guidance so we can deliver solutions to make their lives better and help them reach their aspirations.

To that end, we’ve shifted to an inside-out approach, designing the user experience first. We think about the space we want to create and of course, the electric architecture helps to use the space very efficiently. We make a summary of all the experiences, from driver, passenger, and so on, and then go backwards and identify the design around that. Then we come up with all the ingredients we need to have on the exterior. Of course, we still have to apply the usual automotive fundamentals to make the car look good, such as a good stance and aerodynamics. There are two parts to design: the digital and the physical. So we have software, UX/UI designers, – people from very different backgrounds – but we still need the best automotive designers who have experience of making a car.

These experiences start with how customers interact with the brand from the first moment. From seeing a product on TV or in digital media, to the Ford website, to the mobile app where customers can research different models. From that moment on, this is the journey we need to design, all the graphics and how the brand appears. Not just up until the purchase, but over the lifecycle of the vehicle, with our digital platform enabling post-purchase updates and personalisation. It’s a really big opportunity and a challenge for the design teams.

Within that framework, designers must be open to collaboration. Think of a UX/UI team that creates an interface that takes over part of a door, for example. Interior designers need to work with that team with the goal of prioritising the best experience possible. So instead of saying ‘No’, we ask, ‘How can we make this look beautiful together?’ Having the direct link to the Model e team, which is leading the whole digital software part makes it easier to manage compromises and find the best answers. We are working more closely together than ever.

We showed two Lincoln concepts during 2022 Monterey Car Week, the L100 and Star. The L100 is a celebration of the brand’s 100th anniversary and a chance for us to take the Lincoln brand forward, to do something more radical, and to use that as our guiding light for future products. I had this vision in my head of how the car would look on the lawn at Pebble, but the reality exceeded my expectations. The reaction was like, ‘where did you guys come from? How did this happen?’ It was like a spaceship had landed on Earth. But we didn’t do something bizarre to shock people, we did it in a very elegant way, perfectly fitting to the Lincoln ‘Quiet Flight’ design language. The Star concept, meanwhile, is a step closer to a production car. The designers found the most interesting elements, stance, silhouette, and interior elements and tried to make something more realistic.

A challenge in my role is that the Ford portfolio is extremely diverse with products in all the major car markets – from trucks to compact cars, to the most popular commercial van in Europe. How do you make sure you have a coherent brand appeal that is consistent around the world, while preserving the unique characteristics of individual products? We have studios across the globe with experts on the ground in this regard, with a full understanding of trends and customer expectations, feeding back to our hub in Detroit. If we are talking about trucks, for example, our designers know trucks better than anybody. But how do we make sure we understand the markets enough and have all the right products launching at the right moment? Timing is everything, so we are looking at all the elements that will enable us to build and deliver good products around those constraints and be successful.

One reason I live in Paris is because of all of the cultural exposure, from art galleries to museums, to photography shows. In design, we need to constantly be inspired by everything outside the industry, as well as from within. I look at fashion and how some of those brands are leading the way in terms of creating the sustainability story. There are also many new brands popping up, similar to what’s happening with automotive start-ups. I’m personally very optimistic about the car industry. I think this is a trait every designer needs to have. We need to look forward, beyond the current state, at how we can create better products, services, and experiences that people will love to own and be part of. This is really motivating for me. I also think the team has never been more motivated to work on such exciting programmes around the world.